Jeptha Vining Harris (doctor)
Jeptha Vining Harris (May 27, 1839 – 1914) was an assistant surgeon for the Confederate States Army and Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War. After the Civil War, he was a customs collector, doctor and school superintendent at Key West, Florida.
Jeptha Vining Harris | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 28, 1839 Abbeville County, South Carolina |
| Died | 1914 (Aged 74/75) Key West, Florida |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance | Confederate States of America |
| Service/ | Confederate States Army Confederate States Navy |
| Rank | Assistant Surgeon |
| Battles/wars | American Civil War |
| Other work | Doctor, customs collector, school superintendent |
Biography
Jeptha Vining Harris was born on May 27, 1839 in the Abbeville District of South Carolina.[1] He was the sixth child of James Walton Harris and Martha Watkins Harris.[2] James Walton Harris was the first child of Jeptha Vining Harris of Georgia and Sarah Hunt Harris.[3]
Jeptha V. Harris grew up in North Carolina and Mississippi.[4] Harris was the nephew of Jeptha Vining Harris (Mississippi general), a Mississippi militia (Confederate) brigadier general during the American Civil War (Civil War) and Mississippi State Senator.[5][6] He was the grandson of Jeptha Vining Harris (Georgia general) and Sarah (Hunt) Harris.[5][6] The elder Jeptha Vining Harris was a Georgia militia general during the War of 1812, prominent lawyer, planter and member of the Georgia House of Representatives.[5][6]
Harris received his college and medical education at the University of Mississippi, graduating in 1859.[7][8]
Jeptha V. Harris married Mary Perkins of Mississippi on March 5, 1861.[1] They had the following children: Jeptha V. Harris, Jr., Louis A. Harris and Martha Watkins Harris.[9] Both sons were lawyers.[9]
Soon after he completed college and medical school, Harris served as an assistant surgeon in the Confederate States Army and Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War.[4]
After the Civil War, Harris and his family moved to Key West, Florida, where he became customs collector and lived in the Customs House.[4] He also resumed his medical practice.[4]
Harris was interested in promoting and improving public education. Because of this interest, he became school superintendent at Key West.[4] Harris School, which was built at Key West in 1909, was named for him.[4]
Death
Doctor Jeptha Vining Harris died November 16, 1916 and is buried in Key West Cemetery, Key West Florida.[4]
Notes
- Harris, Gideon Dowse. Harris Genealogy. Columbus, Miss., Keith Printing Co., 1914. OCLC 4707316. Retrieved September 23, 2012. p. 76.
- Harris, 1914, pp. 75–76.
- Harris, 1914, p. 75.
- Born, George Walter. Preserving Paradise: The Architectural Heritage And History of the Florida Keys. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2006. ISBN 978-1-59629-152-2. p. 32.
- Allardice, Bruce S. More Generals in Gray. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1995. ISBN 0-8071-3148-2 (pbk.). Retrieved September 16, 2012. p. 120.
- Harris, 1914, pp. 74–75, 94.
- Harris, 1914, p. 79.
- University of Mississippi. 'Historical and Current Catalogue of the Officers and Students of the University of Mississippi Forty-Second Session'. University of Mississippi: 1894. OCLC 18523522. Retrieved September 28, 2012. p. 40.
- Harris, 1914, p. 80.
References
- Allardice, Bruce S. Confederate Colonels: A Biographical Register. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-8262-1809-4.
- Born, George Walter. Preserving Paradise: The Architectural Heritage And History of the Florida Keys. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2006. ISBN 978-1-59629-152-2.
- Harris, Gideon Dowse. Harris Genealogy. Columbus, Miss., Keith Printing Co., 1914. OCLC 4707316. Retrieved September 23, 2012.
- University of Mississippi. 'Historical and Current Catalogue of the Officers and Students of the University of Mississippi Forty-Second Session'. University of Mississippi: 1894. OCLC 18523522. Retrieved September 28, 2012.